WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:12.919 Well, good morning to you all again. Delighted to be back with you and delighted to be starting 00:00:12.919 --> 00:00:19.359 a new series. We are starting a new series this week that's going to kind of, we're starting 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:24.500 the Advent series a little early. So this is going to be a series that takes us into the 00:00:24.500 --> 00:00:30.660 season of Advent all the way up to Christmas. And the series is going to cover a variety of things. 00:00:30.780 --> 00:00:38.280 We're going to cover issues such as virtual church, race, sexuality, gender, marriage. We're 00:00:38.280 --> 00:00:44.100 going to talk a little bit about abortion, birth control, Botox, a little bit about beauty treatments, 00:00:44.359 --> 00:00:50.179 plastic surgery, a bit on pornography, eating disorders are going to go in there, vaccine 00:00:50.179 --> 00:00:57.039 mandates, mental illness, dementia, yoga, tattoos, cloning is going to make it in there, cremation, 00:00:57.619 --> 00:01:04.120 chronic pain, aging, diet, exercise, got to have those, transhumanist technology, and a bit on death. 00:01:04.879 --> 00:01:07.560 So we're going to cover a few topics over the next few weeks. 00:01:10.039 --> 00:01:14.680 Debra's agreed to allow me to double the length of my sermons, which I'm really excited about. It's 00:01:14.680 --> 00:01:22.200 been a battle we have fought ever since you joined the team. For the sake of time, actually, we're going 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:28.120 to hit on all these topics by focusing on the one thing that all of these topics share in common, the 00:01:28.120 --> 00:01:34.780 kind of underlying issue that directly impacts how we think about all of these issues, which is the 00:01:34.780 --> 00:01:43.719 issue of embodiment. Embodiment. What does it mean that we have physical bodies? What do our bodies 00:01:43.719 --> 00:01:49.459 have to say about what it means to be human? What do our bodies have to tell us about who we are, 00:01:49.819 --> 00:01:57.039 why we're here, where we're going? What do our bodies have to say about what it means to be human 00:01:57.039 --> 00:02:04.379 beings? Are they secondary or are they central to our identities? These are the questions that we're 00:02:04.379 --> 00:02:09.740 going to be exploring. What we're going to see, hopefully, is that what you believe about your body, 00:02:09.740 --> 00:02:16.180 what you believe about your body, actually is going to determine how you think about all of the issues 00:02:16.180 --> 00:02:23.460 that I listed a moment ago and many, many others. So this is going to be our focus for the next six weeks. 00:02:23.800 --> 00:02:31.640 The title of this series is, This is My Body. And those are very powerful words. That's a very powerful 00:02:31.639 --> 00:02:40.639 statement. This is my body. And so this morning I thought a series like this really needs a full sermon to 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:46.679 introduce it so that we're really clear on what we're talking about. And I started thinking about this phrase, 00:02:46.839 --> 00:02:54.219 This is my body. And I started thinking how evocative that is and how it can really change meaning depending on 00:02:54.219 --> 00:03:01.580 who is saying it, what their emphasis is, how they say it. And so by way of introduction to the series, 00:03:01.580 --> 00:03:09.860 we're going to look at four ways that this phrase can be uttered and how from one to the next, 00:03:09.979 --> 00:03:17.340 the meaning changes depending on the speaker and on the emphasis. And we're going to use these passages 00:03:17.340 --> 00:03:25.180 that we just read from John 1 and 1 Corinthians 11 as our guide as we begin to explore this topic 00:03:25.180 --> 00:03:29.580 and sort of frame up what we're going to be doing over the course of the next six weeks. 00:03:30.379 --> 00:03:35.580 So we're going to look at four ways this phrase can be used. This is my body. The first two are ways 00:03:35.580 --> 00:03:42.199 that human beings use it amongst ourselves and to God. And then the second two are going to be ways 00:03:42.199 --> 00:03:50.959 that God speaks this into the world and to us. So let's pray and then let's dive in. Lord, we thank you 00:03:50.959 --> 00:03:58.620 for your word. And we thank you that it's more than just theory that you're the God who is in the midst 00:03:58.620 --> 00:04:05.079 of your people. That Lord, you're here in fulfillment of a great and ancient promise that you would be a God 00:04:05.079 --> 00:04:11.780 who dwells in the midst of your people. That unlike the idols who are deaf and dumb and mute, you speak. 00:04:12.199 --> 00:04:18.219 We pray that you would speak to us this morning. That you would speak your word which never departs 00:04:18.219 --> 00:04:22.519 and returns void but accomplishes all that you intend it to accomplish. We pray that you would do 00:04:22.519 --> 00:04:27.879 that in us this morning. For your glory. We pray this in your son's holy name. Amen. 00:04:29.980 --> 00:04:35.339 So first of all, this phrase can be a highly personal phrase. 00:04:35.339 --> 00:04:46.179 This is my body. In other words, this is my body, not that body or that body or that body. 00:04:47.079 --> 00:04:55.419 But this alone is my body. Let me ask you a personal question. Next time that you are in the bathroom, 00:04:55.620 --> 00:05:00.399 if you were to stand in front of the mirror and simply, you know, full-length mirror and simply look 00:05:00.399 --> 00:05:10.159 at yourself and if you were to say, this is my body, how would you feel about that? Would you say, 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:20.899 this is my body? Or would you say, this is my body? How would you say it? What feelings would that evoke 00:05:20.899 --> 00:05:29.500 in you? You know, this particular body is your body and you didn't get to choose this body for 00:05:29.500 --> 00:05:36.799 yourself. God chose it for you. And like it or not, you're sort of stuck with it. This is your body. 00:05:37.759 --> 00:05:43.739 But it's a very unique body. In fact, it's extraordinarily unique to you. From your fingerprints, 00:05:43.740 --> 00:05:51.300 to your ear ridges, to the folds of your lips, to your irises, there has never been, nor will there 00:05:51.300 --> 00:05:56.519 ever be, another body exactly like your body. You say, what about identical twins? Even identical 00:05:56.519 --> 00:06:02.220 twins have different fingerprints. Your body is utterly unique to you. There's never been a body 00:06:02.220 --> 00:06:07.780 like your body. Now, despite all of this, you would think that we would hear this and we would think, 00:06:07.860 --> 00:06:11.540 my body is amazing. It's unique. It's never been anything like it. It's a one-of-a-kind, 00:06:11.540 --> 00:06:17.819 handmade creation. Despite all of this, I think it's fair to say people have a complicated relationship 00:06:17.819 --> 00:06:26.800 with their bodies, right? So, on the one hand, our bodies are ways that we experience being in the 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:34.140 world. Your whole experience of being in the world is made possible through your embodiment. 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:40.439 So, all of our five senses enable us to experience all kinds of sensations 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:47.199 in the world. And it's hard to imagine orienting ourselves in this world apart from those sensory 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:53.540 experiences. And they can be gateways to extraordinary joy and pleasure. Some of the greatest things in 00:06:53.540 --> 00:07:01.259 life come through these senses. We can't imagine life without them. But I think our bodies can also 00:07:01.259 --> 00:07:10.300 be sources of tremendous anxiety, depression, self-hatred, right? Some of us long to be skinnier, 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:15.819 as we look in that mirror. We long to be taller. We long to be prettier. We long to be stronger. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:23.899 Some of us can't help but constantly compare our bodies to other people's bodies. I don't want a 00:07:23.899 --> 00:07:32.019 body like this. I want a body like that. All right? Some of us have chronic pain or we have health issues, 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:38.040 autoimmune issues, and we sort of live life feeling like our own body has turned against us, 00:07:38.040 --> 00:07:45.660 that our greatest enemy in life is our own body. Some of us are enslaved to bodily appetites. 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:53.960 We feel controlled by them. We can't beat them. Some of us, because of trauma, feel completely 00:07:53.960 --> 00:08:01.820 disconnected from our bodies. We live in a state of dissociation, alienated from our own physicality. 00:08:01.819 --> 00:08:09.300 Some of us are plagued by the nagging sense that we are somehow trapped in the wrong body altogether. 00:08:10.099 --> 00:08:12.800 And the only solution is a different body. 00:08:13.860 --> 00:08:21.680 So the words, this is my body, are very, very, very personal, complicated feelings. Lots of insecurity 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:23.920 arises around that phrase. 00:08:23.920 --> 00:08:30.780 But at the same time that this is a personal phrase, these same words have also increasingly 00:08:30.780 --> 00:08:41.560 become highly political. Highly political. This is my body. This is my body. One of the most 00:08:41.560 --> 00:08:50.740 fundamental definitions of freedom in our society is the phrase my body, my choice. Now, some people use 00:08:50.740 --> 00:08:56.120 that in defense of their desire to terminate a pregnancy. Some people use that in defense of 00:08:56.120 --> 00:09:04.740 their desire to not take the vaccine. Either way, these, for many people, capture very essential ideas 00:09:04.740 --> 00:09:13.379 around human freedom in our society. A free society is one in which I can say, my body, my choice. 00:09:13.799 --> 00:09:17.399 It's an unassailable truth, according to most people in our culture. 00:09:17.399 --> 00:09:24.439 And what we've seen over the last few centuries is how bodies can become sources of division and 00:09:24.439 --> 00:09:30.980 injustice and oppression themselves. You know, we have this example in history, this horrible example 00:09:30.980 --> 00:09:39.740 of post-enlightenment pseudoscientists needing to find a way to justify slavery and doing that by creating 00:09:39.740 --> 00:09:46.500 the modern conception of race and claiming that lighter-skinned Europeans are inherently superior 00:09:46.500 --> 00:09:53.360 to darker-skinned Africans. That was an argument based in physiology and perceived physiological 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:59.899 differences that enabled these scientists to create a kind of taxonomy where it was seen as beneficial 00:09:59.899 --> 00:10:07.679 to inferior races to be governed and dominated by so-called superior races. I don't have to tell you 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:13.620 that that has done incalculable damage in our society and continues to the present day to do the same. 00:10:13.620 --> 00:10:21.000 And in more recent history, bodies have come to occupy a central place in our entire political order. 00:10:21.779 --> 00:10:27.919 These days in our society, it's very hard to imagine politics separated from the human body 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:36.779 and physiological differences. Karl Marx and Michel Foucault have argued and persuaded many in our society 00:10:36.779 --> 00:10:43.279 that the body is a central point for analyzing the shape of power in a given society. 00:10:44.019 --> 00:10:49.659 So you take characteristics like biological sex or sexual orientation or gender identity or gender expression 00:10:49.659 --> 00:10:55.500 or skin color or hair type or age or disability or weight or clothing size. 00:10:55.500 --> 00:11:03.460 And many people would say that these determine where you fall in the power hierarchies of society. 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:14.580 Right? So these days, many people would say that your body either grants you privilege and access and power 00:11:14.580 --> 00:11:23.000 or it relegates you to marginalization, oppression, even exploitation. 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:25.700 Your body does this. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:32.100 So our bodies have, at the same time, a highly personal aspect to them. 00:11:32.139 --> 00:11:34.460 It is this body and it's unique to you. 00:11:34.580 --> 00:11:36.960 But they've also become highly political. 00:11:37.100 --> 00:11:39.259 They're very personal and they're very political. 00:11:39.600 --> 00:11:43.360 We can't imagine politics in society without talking about our bodies. 00:11:43.500 --> 00:11:44.320 They're very central. 00:11:45.299 --> 00:11:48.399 And I think it's fair to say if we look at all of this, 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:52.600 something is wrong in our relationship with our bodies. 00:11:53.659 --> 00:11:56.299 Something somewhere went really wrong 00:11:56.299 --> 00:12:01.279 and that our relationship with our bodies is, shall we say, disordered. 00:12:02.620 --> 00:12:03.100 Right? 00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:07.279 If you're an alien anthropologist looking in on our society from another planet, 00:12:07.459 --> 00:12:10.819 studying us, trying to figure out if you want to reach out and make contact, 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:12.939 and you look at all of this, 00:12:13.179 --> 00:12:14.039 you would probably think, 00:12:14.039 --> 00:12:16.000 wow, there's something going on there. 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:20.579 There's something not right in their relationship with their bodies. 00:12:21.919 --> 00:12:24.259 And, you know, the Bible would very much affirm that. 00:12:24.679 --> 00:12:27.579 It would say it goes all the way back to the first book of the Bible, 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:28.919 the book of Genesis. 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:32.939 We see after human beings disobeyed God, 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:33.980 after they said to God, 00:12:34.039 --> 00:12:36.399 from now on we're going to decide right and wrong for ourselves, 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:37.959 we're going to live in this world, 00:12:38.059 --> 00:12:40.639 but we're going to essentially seek to become our own gods, 00:12:41.159 --> 00:12:42.459 which was the nature of the fall. 00:12:42.460 --> 00:12:47.480 What's the very first thing that happened after they made that decision 00:12:47.480 --> 00:12:49.800 and their relationship with God was broken? 00:12:49.940 --> 00:12:51.720 The very first thing that happened, 00:12:52.280 --> 00:12:57.920 they began to experience shame about their bodies. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:02.019 The very first symptom of a broken world 00:13:02.019 --> 00:13:07.740 was that our relationship with our own embodiment got broken. 00:13:08.980 --> 00:13:10.860 And what we see is this fundamental shift. 00:13:10.860 --> 00:13:15.419 Instead of seeing our bodies as gifts to be celebrated, 00:13:15.879 --> 00:13:21.039 our bodies became problems to be solved. 00:13:22.820 --> 00:13:24.120 So for the first time, 00:13:24.180 --> 00:13:26.539 human beings went about trying to solve the problem 00:13:26.539 --> 00:13:29.159 of a body about which they felt shame. 00:13:30.560 --> 00:13:32.620 And when you've cut yourself off from God, 00:13:32.680 --> 00:13:35.159 you just have to rely on your own ability, 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:36.759 your own strength, right? 00:13:36.820 --> 00:13:37.860 Your own capacity. 00:13:37.860 --> 00:13:40.700 And so they turned to technology. 00:13:42.480 --> 00:13:44.419 And for the first time in history, 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:48.659 human beings began using technology 00:13:48.659 --> 00:13:51.440 to cover their bodies. 00:13:52.820 --> 00:13:54.440 They sewed fig leaves together. 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:57.140 And ever since that day, 00:13:57.260 --> 00:13:58.680 human beings have been developing 00:13:58.680 --> 00:14:01.280 more and more advanced technologies 00:14:01.280 --> 00:14:05.000 to cover, alter, enhance, 00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:09.060 or altogether transform the bodies we have 00:14:09.060 --> 00:14:11.420 into the bodies we want. 00:14:12.060 --> 00:14:14.360 To solve the problem of the body. 00:14:15.240 --> 00:14:17.640 And virtually every society we know of 00:14:17.640 --> 00:14:18.720 throughout history 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:22.500 has used cosmetics and body modification technologies 00:14:22.500 --> 00:14:24.000 to do just that. 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:27.340 You know, 7,000 years ago, 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:29.360 people were putting makeup on 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:32.019 to subtly alter their appearance. 00:14:33.860 --> 00:14:35.700 Numerous religions grew up, 00:14:36.259 --> 00:14:38.080 including all of the Gnostic traditions 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:39.360 and the Eastern traditions, 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:42.200 that denigrated the physical body, 00:14:42.299 --> 00:14:43.820 that offered various ways 00:14:43.820 --> 00:14:46.519 to either transcend or escape 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:49.080 the fleshly prison of our bodies 00:14:49.080 --> 00:14:50.720 once and for all. 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:53.139 And as I say this, 00:14:53.180 --> 00:14:54.100 I hope it sounds familiar 00:14:54.100 --> 00:14:54.920 because the truth is, 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:56.220 is our society is no different. 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:57.400 We've taken these same things 00:14:57.400 --> 00:14:58.759 and we've just pushed them 00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:00.720 further and further and further, right? 00:15:01.020 --> 00:15:02.020 Americans these days 00:15:02.020 --> 00:15:02.800 spend something like 00:15:02.800 --> 00:15:04.320 $16.5 billion 00:15:04.320 --> 00:15:08.240 on plastic surgery every year. 00:15:08.340 --> 00:15:10.340 $16.5 billion. 00:15:11.460 --> 00:15:14.060 The fig leaf industry is booming. 00:15:14.059 --> 00:15:14.159 It is booming. 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:16.459 It is booming. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:18.219 And the leaves have become 00:15:18.219 --> 00:15:19.139 a lot more expensive. 00:15:20.659 --> 00:15:22.039 Many people just want to feel 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:22.739 a little younger 00:15:22.739 --> 00:15:24.119 or a little more attractive. 00:15:24.479 --> 00:15:25.719 We begin to see 00:15:25.719 --> 00:15:27.339 the effects of aging on us 00:15:27.339 --> 00:15:28.959 and we want to stave that off 00:15:28.959 --> 00:15:30.699 as long as we possibly can. 00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:32.839 A little nip, tuck, Botox injection 00:15:32.839 --> 00:15:33.639 here and there 00:15:33.639 --> 00:15:36.479 just to kind of tweak ourselves 00:15:36.479 --> 00:15:39.339 so that we stay a little prettier 00:15:39.339 --> 00:15:40.599 or a little more handsome 00:15:40.599 --> 00:15:41.319 for a little longer. 00:15:41.320 --> 00:15:42.340 Other people want 00:15:42.340 --> 00:15:44.379 more significant alterations. 00:15:44.500 --> 00:15:45.080 There's such a thing 00:15:45.080 --> 00:15:46.700 as ethnic plastic surgery. 00:15:48.280 --> 00:15:49.680 You may not know about this. 00:15:49.920 --> 00:15:50.460 Maybe you do. 00:15:51.480 --> 00:15:52.960 People of black or Hispanic 00:15:52.960 --> 00:15:55.020 and especially Asian descent 00:15:55.020 --> 00:15:57.060 using plastic surgery 00:15:57.060 --> 00:15:58.840 to try to meet 00:15:58.840 --> 00:16:00.340 Caucasian beauty standards. 00:16:01.500 --> 00:16:02.780 In some parts of the world, 00:16:02.920 --> 00:16:04.220 that's big business. 00:16:06.460 --> 00:16:08.300 Sex and gender reassignment surgeries 00:16:08.300 --> 00:16:09.120 are on the rise. 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:10.380 All the market projections 00:16:10.379 --> 00:16:11.320 are showing that 00:16:11.320 --> 00:16:12.600 that's a good industry 00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:13.919 if you're wanting to make money 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:14.820 and you're in the medical field 00:16:14.820 --> 00:16:15.639 to get into 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:17.700 because all the curves 00:16:17.700 --> 00:16:18.379 are going up. 00:16:18.460 --> 00:16:19.500 More and more people want it. 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:22.120 More and more people feel 00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:23.279 that the sex of their body 00:16:23.279 --> 00:16:24.000 does not match 00:16:24.000 --> 00:16:24.860 their gender identity 00:16:24.860 --> 00:16:26.320 and they want to align 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:26.939 their body 00:16:26.939 --> 00:16:28.039 with the way they feel 00:16:28.039 --> 00:16:29.299 on the inside. 00:16:29.519 --> 00:16:31.039 And that takes a lot of surgery. 00:16:31.159 --> 00:16:31.799 It's not just one, 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:32.879 but it's a whole process 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:33.480 and procedure 00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:35.279 over years 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:37.720 to fully alter your body 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:38.340 in that way. 00:16:38.340 --> 00:16:40.620 Likewise, 00:16:40.860 --> 00:16:42.280 transhumanist technology 00:16:42.280 --> 00:16:43.540 is on the rise. 00:16:43.620 --> 00:16:45.040 These are all the various technologies 00:16:45.040 --> 00:16:46.280 that enable us to enhance 00:16:46.280 --> 00:16:47.860 or altogether transcend 00:16:47.860 --> 00:16:48.660 the limits 00:16:48.660 --> 00:16:50.519 of our physical body. 00:16:52.100 --> 00:16:52.620 Now, 00:16:52.700 --> 00:16:53.519 at one end, 00:16:53.560 --> 00:16:54.460 we just have something like 00:16:54.460 --> 00:16:55.780 Facebook's announcement 00:16:55.780 --> 00:16:56.620 of the metaverse. 00:16:57.780 --> 00:16:58.280 Right? 00:16:58.320 --> 00:16:58.899 The great hope, 00:16:59.080 --> 00:16:59.759 the great vision 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:00.620 of human flourishing 00:17:00.620 --> 00:17:01.600 that Mark Zuckerberg 00:17:01.600 --> 00:17:03.040 is preaching to the world 00:17:03.040 --> 00:17:04.940 is that the metaverse 00:17:04.940 --> 00:17:05.819 will allow us 00:17:05.819 --> 00:17:07.480 to sort of be anything we want, 00:17:07.679 --> 00:17:08.299 go anywhere, 00:17:08.700 --> 00:17:09.879 experience anything we want, 00:17:09.960 --> 00:17:11.519 that everything in the physical world 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:11.980 can be taken 00:17:11.980 --> 00:17:12.919 into the digital world. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:13.419 Interestingly, 00:17:13.559 --> 00:17:14.279 he's referring to it 00:17:14.279 --> 00:17:15.480 as an embodied internet, 00:17:15.939 --> 00:17:16.519 but if you look at 00:17:16.519 --> 00:17:17.200 what they're actually doing, 00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:18.419 it's the exact opposite of that. 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:20.619 It's a disembodied experience. 00:17:22.480 --> 00:17:23.259 On the one end, 00:17:23.319 --> 00:17:23.859 we have that, 00:17:23.919 --> 00:17:24.399 and then we have 00:17:24.399 --> 00:17:25.700 all of these technologies 00:17:25.700 --> 00:17:26.460 that allow us 00:17:26.460 --> 00:17:27.159 to enhance 00:17:27.159 --> 00:17:28.460 our physical bodies, 00:17:28.659 --> 00:17:29.919 cybernetic enhancements. 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:30.779 This sounds like the stuff 00:17:30.779 --> 00:17:31.859 out of a sci-fi movie, 00:17:31.859 --> 00:17:33.740 but on the other end 00:17:33.740 --> 00:17:34.459 of that spectrum, 00:17:34.579 --> 00:17:35.740 you have more and more people 00:17:35.740 --> 00:17:36.879 and people with a lot of money 00:17:36.879 --> 00:17:37.479 and resources 00:17:37.479 --> 00:17:39.359 working on ways 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:41.619 to either upload ourselves 00:17:41.619 --> 00:17:42.779 into another body 00:17:42.779 --> 00:17:45.459 or to upload ourselves 00:17:45.459 --> 00:17:47.199 into some kind of a computer 00:17:47.199 --> 00:17:48.519 that will enable us 00:17:48.519 --> 00:17:49.979 to escape our bodies 00:17:49.979 --> 00:17:51.579 once and for all, 00:17:52.119 --> 00:17:54.939 finally leaving embodiment behind. 00:17:56.319 --> 00:17:58.179 And many people hear this 00:17:58.179 --> 00:17:59.719 and they think about 00:17:59.720 --> 00:18:00.960 the disordered relationship 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:01.940 we have with our bodies 00:18:01.940 --> 00:18:02.880 and all of the anxiety 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:03.519 and the depression 00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:04.680 and the insecurity 00:18:04.680 --> 00:18:06.039 and the chronic pain 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:06.620 and illness, 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:07.980 and they hear this 00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:08.319 and they think, 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:09.220 well, that is good news 00:18:09.220 --> 00:18:09.799 for the world. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:11.480 Let's use technology 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:12.700 to escape the limitations 00:18:12.700 --> 00:18:13.319 of our bodies 00:18:13.319 --> 00:18:14.200 and solve the problem 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:15.200 once for all. 00:18:16.740 --> 00:18:17.839 What we're going to see 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:18.779 in this series 00:18:18.779 --> 00:18:19.980 beginning today 00:18:19.980 --> 00:18:22.539 is that the gospel 00:18:22.539 --> 00:18:23.779 offers something 00:18:23.779 --> 00:18:24.980 infinitely better, 00:18:26.180 --> 00:18:27.259 infinitely better news 00:18:27.259 --> 00:18:28.000 for our bodies 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.519 because the gospel 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:30.359 doesn't promise 00:18:30.359 --> 00:18:31.940 alteration of our bodies. 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:33.240 It doesn't promise 00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:34.680 escape from our bodies 00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:35.400 altogether. 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:36.640 As Paul says 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:37.700 in Romans chapter 8 00:18:37.700 --> 00:18:38.519 verses 23, 00:18:39.019 --> 00:18:40.940 the redemption of our bodies 00:18:40.940 --> 00:18:43.279 is the goal of the gospel. 00:18:43.799 --> 00:18:45.599 The redemption of our bodies, 00:18:45.740 --> 00:18:47.799 a rightly ordered relationship 00:18:47.799 --> 00:18:49.240 with our bodies 00:18:49.240 --> 00:18:50.559 so that we no longer see them 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:51.980 as problems to be solved. 00:18:52.140 --> 00:18:53.519 We began to see them again 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:55.720 as gifts to be received 00:18:55.720 --> 00:18:57.079 and celebrated 00:18:57.079 --> 00:18:58.259 and loved 00:18:58.259 --> 00:18:59.299 because we're going 00:18:59.299 --> 00:18:59.819 to have them 00:18:59.819 --> 00:19:00.980 for a very, very, 00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:02.200 very long time. 00:19:02.519 --> 00:19:03.200 Spoiler alert, 00:19:03.620 --> 00:19:04.240 we're going to have them 00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:05.460 for a very long time. 00:19:06.740 --> 00:19:07.779 So let me just give you 00:19:07.779 --> 00:19:09.339 a sense of how the gospel 00:19:09.339 --> 00:19:10.700 begins to do this. 00:19:10.819 --> 00:19:12.819 Just a little tidbit here 00:19:12.819 --> 00:19:14.460 for this morning. 00:19:14.579 --> 00:19:15.660 How does God go about 00:19:15.660 --> 00:19:16.339 doing this? 00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:19.120 Through the words, 00:19:19.120 --> 00:19:20.319 this is my body 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:23.240 used in two different ways. 00:19:23.240 --> 00:19:27.900 The first is the incarnational. 00:19:28.900 --> 00:19:30.120 This is my body. 00:19:31.579 --> 00:19:33.940 Right in John chapter 1 verse 14, 00:19:34.339 --> 00:19:36.279 And the word became flesh 00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:37.980 and dwelt among us, 00:19:38.099 --> 00:19:39.519 and we have seen his glory, 00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:41.740 glory as of the only Son of the Father, 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:45.099 full of grace and truth. 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:46.779 Through the incarnation, 00:19:46.779 --> 00:19:48.559 God says to the world, 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:52.059 this is my body. 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:54.659 This is my body. 00:19:56.179 --> 00:19:57.599 And the word, 00:19:57.899 --> 00:19:59.379 as John uses it, 00:19:59.500 --> 00:20:00.659 the word word 00:20:00.659 --> 00:20:02.319 is the Greek word logos, 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:04.460 which is very rich 00:20:04.460 --> 00:20:05.519 and multi-textured 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:06.319 in its meaning. 00:20:06.819 --> 00:20:07.500 The word logos 00:20:07.500 --> 00:20:09.039 is the intersection 00:20:09.039 --> 00:20:11.859 of Greek and Hebrew thought. 00:20:12.200 --> 00:20:12.440 Right? 00:20:12.440 --> 00:20:14.460 The Greeks thought of the logos 00:20:14.460 --> 00:20:15.659 as the ordering, 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:17.159 shaping principle 00:20:17.159 --> 00:20:18.000 of the universe, 00:20:18.000 --> 00:20:18.700 the sort of, 00:20:18.859 --> 00:20:19.559 the principle 00:20:19.559 --> 00:20:21.339 that holds all things together. 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:24.059 The Hebrews heard logos 00:20:24.059 --> 00:20:26.079 and they went back to Genesis. 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:27.819 The word is how God 00:20:27.819 --> 00:20:29.160 created the universe. 00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:31.240 He created through his word. 00:20:32.140 --> 00:20:33.740 And so if you take these ideas 00:20:33.740 --> 00:20:34.680 and hold them together, 00:20:34.819 --> 00:20:35.880 when John says logos, 00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:36.839 here's what he means. 00:20:38.640 --> 00:20:39.940 The being 00:20:39.940 --> 00:20:41.519 through whom 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:43.000 all things were created 00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:44.779 and by whom 00:20:44.779 --> 00:20:46.920 all things hold together. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:48.880 That's the logos. 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:52.240 And John says clearly 00:20:52.240 --> 00:20:53.180 that the logos 00:20:53.180 --> 00:20:55.220 became flesh. 00:20:55.960 --> 00:20:57.039 And he deliberately 00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:58.859 bypasses other words 00:20:58.859 --> 00:21:00.500 that would have less emphasis 00:21:00.500 --> 00:21:01.859 on the physicality 00:21:01.859 --> 00:21:03.279 and he deliberately goes 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:03.819 to the word 00:21:03.819 --> 00:21:04.200 that would be 00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:05.519 the most physical 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:07.400 of all of the words 00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:08.140 he could have used. 00:21:08.500 --> 00:21:09.059 Sarx. 00:21:09.460 --> 00:21:10.279 The emphasis 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:11.279 of that word 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:12.700 is on the physicality, 00:21:12.819 --> 00:21:14.680 on the fleshy substance 00:21:14.680 --> 00:21:15.460 itself. 00:21:16.980 --> 00:21:19.080 The organizing principle 00:21:19.080 --> 00:21:20.000 of the universe 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:20.500 through whom 00:21:20.500 --> 00:21:21.400 all things were created 00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:22.120 has become 00:21:22.120 --> 00:21:23.140 squishy 00:21:23.140 --> 00:21:24.940 flesh and bone. 00:21:26.279 --> 00:21:27.180 That's what he's 00:21:27.180 --> 00:21:28.120 emphasizing here. 00:21:28.440 --> 00:21:29.080 Now this would have 00:21:29.080 --> 00:21:29.980 absolutely 00:21:29.980 --> 00:21:31.400 scandalized 00:21:31.400 --> 00:21:32.420 the Greeks 00:21:32.420 --> 00:21:34.400 because the Greeks 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:35.180 thought a lot 00:21:35.180 --> 00:21:36.019 like we think. 00:21:37.140 --> 00:21:38.420 They separated 00:21:38.420 --> 00:21:39.360 the spiritual 00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:40.699 and the physical 00:21:40.699 --> 00:21:41.899 and they just 00:21:41.899 --> 00:21:42.679 assumed 00:21:42.679 --> 00:21:43.819 that the spiritual 00:21:43.819 --> 00:21:44.839 was superior 00:21:44.839 --> 00:21:46.059 to the physical 00:21:46.059 --> 00:21:46.740 and so a lot 00:21:46.740 --> 00:21:47.279 of their thought 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:48.399 revolved around 00:21:48.399 --> 00:21:49.559 especially later 00:21:49.559 --> 00:21:51.019 how to get out 00:21:51.019 --> 00:21:52.259 of the constraints 00:21:52.259 --> 00:21:53.259 of physicality 00:21:53.259 --> 00:21:54.119 and transcend 00:21:54.119 --> 00:21:55.099 the pure 00:21:55.099 --> 00:21:56.459 spiritual plane. 00:21:57.439 --> 00:21:58.479 So the idea 00:21:58.479 --> 00:21:59.119 that something 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:00.159 that was spiritual 00:22:00.159 --> 00:22:00.979 would choose 00:22:00.979 --> 00:22:01.579 to become 00:22:01.579 --> 00:22:02.479 physical 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:03.240 fleshy 00:22:03.240 --> 00:22:03.980 sarx 00:22:03.980 --> 00:22:04.620 that would have 00:22:04.620 --> 00:22:05.319 been totally 00:22:05.319 --> 00:22:05.880 scandalous 00:22:05.880 --> 00:22:06.319 to them. 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:09.019 But John 00:22:09.019 --> 00:22:09.599 is not just 00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:10.559 saying that the word 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:11.299 took on the 00:22:11.299 --> 00:22:12.259 appearance of flesh 00:22:12.259 --> 00:22:12.680 because a lot 00:22:12.680 --> 00:22:13.039 of them heard 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:13.460 this and they 00:22:13.460 --> 00:22:13.700 thought 00:22:13.700 --> 00:22:14.720 well maybe 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:15.519 what he means 00:22:15.519 --> 00:22:15.980 is 00:22:15.980 --> 00:22:18.860 that for a while 00:22:18.860 --> 00:22:20.000 the Logos 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:21.059 looked like 00:22:21.059 --> 00:22:21.599 a person. 00:22:23.019 --> 00:22:23.720 Or maybe 00:22:23.720 --> 00:22:24.519 for a while 00:22:24.519 --> 00:22:25.500 Logos 00:22:25.500 --> 00:22:26.960 took on 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:27.440 a body 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:27.940 kind of like 00:22:27.940 --> 00:22:28.539 putting on 00:22:28.539 --> 00:22:29.460 an overcoat 00:22:29.460 --> 00:22:31.140 to kind of 00:22:31.140 --> 00:22:31.960 do the thing 00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:32.700 but at the end 00:22:32.700 --> 00:22:33.100 of the day 00:22:33.100 --> 00:22:33.740 when the mission 00:22:33.740 --> 00:22:34.400 was done 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:35.279 took the body 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:35.920 off again. 00:22:36.460 --> 00:22:37.079 A lot of Christians 00:22:37.079 --> 00:22:38.100 to this day 00:22:38.100 --> 00:22:38.660 think that. 00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:41.180 But John 00:22:41.180 --> 00:22:41.840 is saying no. 00:22:43.380 --> 00:22:44.039 The word 00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:44.500 didn't just 00:22:44.500 --> 00:22:44.900 take on 00:22:44.900 --> 00:22:45.460 the appearance 00:22:45.460 --> 00:22:46.019 of flesh 00:22:46.019 --> 00:22:46.620 or inhabit 00:22:46.620 --> 00:22:47.100 a body 00:22:47.100 --> 00:22:47.779 temporarily 00:22:47.779 --> 00:22:49.480 Logos 00:22:49.480 --> 00:22:50.720 became 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:51.700 sarx. 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:53.299 The word 00:22:53.299 --> 00:22:53.880 became 00:22:53.880 --> 00:22:54.660 ginomai 00:22:54.660 --> 00:22:55.779 and the tense 00:22:55.779 --> 00:22:56.420 that is used 00:22:56.420 --> 00:22:56.840 here 00:22:56.840 --> 00:22:57.980 conveys a 00:22:57.980 --> 00:22:59.200 permanent change 00:22:59.200 --> 00:22:59.980 in the nature 00:22:59.980 --> 00:23:00.640 of something. 00:23:01.240 --> 00:23:01.840 Something 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:02.779 that becomes 00:23:02.779 --> 00:23:04.179 something new 00:23:04.179 --> 00:23:04.579 that it 00:23:04.579 --> 00:23:05.559 wasn't before. 00:23:06.500 --> 00:23:06.740 And so 00:23:06.740 --> 00:23:07.220 here's what 00:23:07.220 --> 00:23:07.899 this means. 00:23:08.259 --> 00:23:08.879 The God 00:23:08.879 --> 00:23:09.799 of the universe 00:23:09.799 --> 00:23:11.159 permanently 00:23:11.159 --> 00:23:12.459 altered himself. 00:23:14.419 --> 00:23:15.099 Permanently 00:23:15.099 --> 00:23:16.019 altered himself. 00:23:17.319 --> 00:23:18.399 The eternal 00:23:18.399 --> 00:23:18.859 son 00:23:18.859 --> 00:23:19.699 the Logos 00:23:19.699 --> 00:23:20.839 became 00:23:20.839 --> 00:23:21.319 flesh. 00:23:22.379 --> 00:23:23.399 And to this 00:23:23.399 --> 00:23:24.119 very moment 00:23:24.119 --> 00:23:24.779 as we sit 00:23:24.779 --> 00:23:25.159 here this 00:23:25.159 --> 00:23:25.539 morning 00:23:25.539 --> 00:23:27.079 is flesh. 00:23:27.679 --> 00:23:28.619 There is a 00:23:28.619 --> 00:23:29.240 body 00:23:29.240 --> 00:23:30.079 a physical 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:30.559 body 00:23:30.559 --> 00:23:31.000 sitting 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:31.299 at the 00:23:31.299 --> 00:23:31.519 right 00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:31.740 hand 00:23:31.740 --> 00:23:31.980 of the 00:23:31.980 --> 00:23:32.299 father 00:23:32.299 --> 00:23:33.339 as we 00:23:33.339 --> 00:23:33.579 speak 00:23:33.579 --> 00:23:33.819 these 00:23:33.819 --> 00:23:34.059 words 00:23:34.059 --> 00:23:34.500 together. 00:23:35.460 --> 00:23:36.000 Now this 00:23:36.000 --> 00:23:36.179 has 00:23:36.179 --> 00:23:36.779 extraordinary 00:23:36.779 --> 00:23:37.500 implications. 00:23:38.259 --> 00:23:38.799 I just 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:39.099 want to give 00:23:39.099 --> 00:23:39.619 you a couple 00:23:39.619 --> 00:23:40.539 before we 00:23:40.539 --> 00:23:41.099 move on. 00:23:41.679 --> 00:23:41.960 We're going 00:23:41.960 --> 00:23:42.359 to say a lot 00:23:42.359 --> 00:23:42.720 more about 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:43.079 this in the 00:23:43.079 --> 00:23:43.399 weeks to 00:23:43.399 --> 00:23:43.720 come. 00:23:43.720 --> 00:23:44.839 But the 00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:45.359 incarnation 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:46.319 means that 00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:47.339 Jesus alone 00:23:47.339 --> 00:23:48.000 can offer 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:48.579 us two 00:23:48.579 --> 00:23:49.220 things that 00:23:49.220 --> 00:23:49.940 we desperately 00:23:49.940 --> 00:23:50.759 need when it 00:23:50.759 --> 00:23:51.319 comes to our 00:23:51.319 --> 00:23:51.879 relationship 00:23:51.879 --> 00:23:52.740 with our 00:23:52.740 --> 00:23:53.220 bodies. 00:23:54.599 --> 00:23:55.319 Compassion 00:23:55.319 --> 00:23:59.579 compassion 00:23:59.579 --> 00:23:59.599 and direction. 00:24:01.139 --> 00:24:02.299 Hebrews chapter 00:24:02.299 --> 00:24:03.059 two 00:24:03.059 --> 00:24:04.939 the author 00:24:04.939 --> 00:24:05.339 of Hebrews 00:24:05.339 --> 00:24:06.319 says he 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:07.099 meaning Jesus 00:24:07.099 --> 00:24:08.339 became like 00:24:08.339 --> 00:24:09.019 us in 00:24:09.019 --> 00:24:09.919 every way. 00:24:10.939 --> 00:24:11.539 The context 00:24:11.539 --> 00:24:12.159 of that is 00:24:12.159 --> 00:24:12.539 this. 00:24:12.659 --> 00:24:12.960 What is he 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:13.319 saying? 00:24:14.220 --> 00:24:15.099 Are you 00:24:15.099 --> 00:24:15.619 struggling right 00:24:15.619 --> 00:24:15.859 now? 00:24:16.779 --> 00:24:17.539 God has 00:24:17.539 --> 00:24:17.980 been there. 00:24:18.619 --> 00:24:18.960 Are you 00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:19.399 depressed? 00:24:19.879 --> 00:24:20.299 Are you 00:24:20.299 --> 00:24:20.819 fearful? 00:24:21.299 --> 00:24:21.679 Are you 00:24:21.679 --> 00:24:22.119 hungry? 00:24:22.659 --> 00:24:23.019 Are you 00:24:23.019 --> 00:24:23.480 in chronic 00:24:23.480 --> 00:24:23.939 pain? 00:24:24.059 --> 00:24:24.359 Are you 00:24:24.359 --> 00:24:25.259 exhausted? 00:24:25.559 --> 00:24:25.960 Are you 00:24:25.960 --> 00:24:26.399 lonely? 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:27.240 He has 00:24:27.240 --> 00:24:27.799 been there. 00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:29.500 Do you 00:24:29.500 --> 00:24:30.220 feel rejected? 00:24:30.379 --> 00:24:30.559 Do you 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:31.259 feel marginalized? 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:31.679 Do you 00:24:31.679 --> 00:24:32.299 feel mistreated? 00:24:32.399 --> 00:24:32.579 Do you 00:24:32.579 --> 00:24:33.220 feel overlooked? 00:24:33.419 --> 00:24:33.779 He has 00:24:33.779 --> 00:24:34.359 been there. 00:24:35.980 --> 00:24:36.579 Are you 00:24:36.579 --> 00:24:37.179 homeless? 00:24:37.559 --> 00:24:37.839 Are you 00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:38.639 friendless? 00:24:38.799 --> 00:24:39.079 Are you 00:24:39.079 --> 00:24:39.859 jobless? 00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:40.339 Are you 00:24:40.339 --> 00:24:40.819 poor? 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:41.480 He has 00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:42.000 been there. 00:24:43.500 --> 00:24:44.220 Jesus has 00:24:44.220 --> 00:24:44.579 been there 00:24:44.579 --> 00:24:45.059 more than 00:24:45.059 --> 00:24:45.559 we know. 00:24:46.619 --> 00:24:47.460 So when we 00:24:47.460 --> 00:24:48.359 pray to God 00:24:48.359 --> 00:24:48.819 and we are 00:24:48.819 --> 00:24:49.480 struggling 00:24:49.480 --> 00:24:49.960 within the 00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:50.500 limitations 00:24:50.500 --> 00:24:51.019 of our 00:24:51.019 --> 00:24:51.679 finitude, 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:51.980 our 00:24:51.980 --> 00:24:53.000 creatureliness, 00:24:53.279 --> 00:24:53.619 our 00:24:53.619 --> 00:24:54.899 fleshliness, 00:24:55.319 --> 00:24:57.700 we are 00:24:57.700 --> 00:24:58.419 longing to 00:24:58.419 --> 00:24:59.659 escape all 00:24:59.659 --> 00:24:59.980 of these 00:24:59.980 --> 00:25:00.579 limitations, 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:01.059 when we are 00:25:01.059 --> 00:25:01.779 crying out to 00:25:01.779 --> 00:25:03.019 God, we are 00:25:03.019 --> 00:25:03.919 crying out to 00:25:03.919 --> 00:25:04.419 a God who 00:25:04.419 --> 00:25:05.200 knows what it 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:05.980 is because he 00:25:05.980 --> 00:25:07.000 voluntarily took 00:25:07.000 --> 00:25:07.559 on those 00:25:07.559 --> 00:25:08.099 limitations 00:25:08.099 --> 00:25:10.179 himself and 00:25:10.179 --> 00:25:11.220 experienced it 00:25:11.220 --> 00:25:11.980 himself. 00:25:12.579 --> 00:25:13.299 So he knows 00:25:13.299 --> 00:25:13.939 how we feel. 00:25:14.139 --> 00:25:14.559 So his 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:15.259 compassion is 00:25:15.259 --> 00:25:15.559 real. 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:17.700 But then also 00:25:17.700 --> 00:25:18.119 through the 00:25:18.119 --> 00:25:19.159 incarnation, we're 00:25:19.159 --> 00:25:19.819 given not just 00:25:19.819 --> 00:25:20.480 someone who can 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:21.259 empathize with 00:25:21.259 --> 00:25:21.859 us, but we're 00:25:21.859 --> 00:25:22.319 given a 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:24.079 direction for 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:25.000 ourselves and 00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:25.439 our own 00:25:25.439 --> 00:25:25.980 bodies. 00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:26.819 Because what 00:25:26.819 --> 00:25:27.319 you see in 00:25:27.319 --> 00:25:27.879 Jesus is 00:25:27.879 --> 00:25:28.439 someone who 00:25:28.439 --> 00:25:30.059 became flesh 00:25:30.059 --> 00:25:31.059 and experienced 00:25:31.059 --> 00:25:31.599 life in the 00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:32.500 flesh, and yet 00:25:32.500 --> 00:25:32.839 at the same 00:25:32.839 --> 00:25:33.500 time he never 00:25:33.500 --> 00:25:34.099 sinned. 00:25:34.679 --> 00:25:35.359 He never gave 00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:35.740 in to the 00:25:35.740 --> 00:25:36.579 temptations that 00:25:36.579 --> 00:25:37.679 come with life 00:25:37.679 --> 00:25:38.339 in the flesh. 00:25:39.279 --> 00:25:40.379 So Jesus not 00:25:40.379 --> 00:25:41.200 only became a 00:25:41.200 --> 00:25:42.359 human being, but 00:25:42.359 --> 00:25:43.359 he shows us what 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:44.279 human beings were 00:25:44.279 --> 00:25:46.819 meant to be, and 00:25:46.819 --> 00:25:47.639 what we can one 00:25:47.639 --> 00:25:49.240 day become through 00:25:49.240 --> 00:25:50.159 his grace. 00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:51.640 this is where we 00:25:51.640 --> 00:25:52.340 get the phrase 00:25:52.340 --> 00:25:52.800 that we'll talk 00:25:52.800 --> 00:25:53.420 more about, 00:25:53.880 --> 00:25:54.880 Christological 00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:55.820 anthropology. 00:25:56.220 --> 00:25:56.900 Essentially the 00:25:56.900 --> 00:25:58.460 idea that we 00:25:58.460 --> 00:25:59.340 can only ever 00:25:59.340 --> 00:26:00.140 fully know what 00:26:00.140 --> 00:26:00.980 it means to be a 00:26:00.980 --> 00:26:01.860 human being by 00:26:01.860 --> 00:26:02.360 looking at 00:26:02.360 --> 00:26:02.779 Jesus. 00:26:04.080 --> 00:26:04.940 That Jesus 00:26:04.940 --> 00:26:05.980 shows us what 00:26:05.980 --> 00:26:07.540 a true, fully 00:26:07.540 --> 00:26:08.720 formed human 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:10.140 being looks 00:26:10.140 --> 00:26:10.580 like. 00:26:11.900 --> 00:26:12.980 And we can't 00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:13.800 fully understand 00:26:13.800 --> 00:26:14.440 what it means to 00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:15.320 be a human being 00:26:15.320 --> 00:26:16.140 until we have 00:26:16.140 --> 00:26:16.840 seen true 00:26:16.840 --> 00:26:18.279 humanity revealed 00:26:18.279 --> 00:26:18.779 in him. 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:19.600 And what this 00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:20.299 tells us is that 00:26:20.299 --> 00:26:21.099 the aim of the 00:26:21.099 --> 00:26:21.839 Christian gospel 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:23.419 is not just to 00:26:23.419 --> 00:26:24.399 save us. 00:26:24.740 --> 00:26:25.819 The aim of the 00:26:25.819 --> 00:26:26.639 Christian gospel 00:26:26.639 --> 00:26:27.219 and the Christian 00:26:27.219 --> 00:26:28.159 life is to 00:26:28.159 --> 00:26:28.980 become fully 00:26:28.980 --> 00:26:29.359 human. 00:26:30.959 --> 00:26:31.859 This is a 00:26:31.859 --> 00:26:33.199 re-humanization 00:26:33.199 --> 00:26:34.099 project. 00:26:36.259 --> 00:26:37.179 Until, as it 00:26:37.179 --> 00:26:38.059 says in 1 John 00:26:38.059 --> 00:26:39.000 3 verse 2, 00:26:39.099 --> 00:26:39.799 beloved, he 00:26:39.799 --> 00:26:40.459 says, we are 00:26:40.459 --> 00:26:41.139 God's children 00:26:41.139 --> 00:26:42.740 now, and what 00:26:42.740 --> 00:26:43.799 we will be has 00:26:43.799 --> 00:26:45.240 not yet appeared. 00:26:45.339 --> 00:26:45.779 You know, we're 00:26:45.779 --> 00:26:46.779 becoming something. 00:26:46.899 --> 00:26:47.519 We're not quite 00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:48.339 sure what that's 00:26:48.339 --> 00:26:48.839 going to be. 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:51.699 But we know, he 00:26:51.699 --> 00:26:52.559 says, that when 00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:53.619 he appears, meaning 00:26:53.619 --> 00:26:55.419 Jesus, we shall 00:26:55.419 --> 00:26:56.559 be like him. 00:26:58.339 --> 00:26:59.119 That's how we're 00:26:59.119 --> 00:26:59.599 going to know. 00:27:00.299 --> 00:27:01.240 We'll recognize 00:27:01.240 --> 00:27:01.959 him because it'll 00:27:01.959 --> 00:27:02.659 be in some ways 00:27:02.659 --> 00:27:03.480 like looking into 00:27:03.480 --> 00:27:04.019 a mirror. 00:27:05.819 --> 00:27:06.579 Now, that's an 00:27:06.579 --> 00:27:07.319 amazing claim. 00:27:08.419 --> 00:27:09.339 And this is made 00:27:09.339 --> 00:27:10.099 possible because 00:27:10.099 --> 00:27:11.039 Jesus didn't just 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:12.279 become a body, 00:27:12.399 --> 00:27:13.379 become flesh, 00:27:13.859 --> 00:27:15.119 but he offers 00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:16.319 his body. 00:27:16.319 --> 00:27:17.720 He offers his 00:27:17.720 --> 00:27:18.419 flesh for the 00:27:18.419 --> 00:27:19.279 sake of humanity, 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:20.579 which brings us 00:27:20.579 --> 00:27:21.240 to the fourth and 00:27:21.240 --> 00:27:22.179 final way that we 00:27:22.179 --> 00:27:23.460 hear this phrase 00:27:23.460 --> 00:27:24.619 spoken by God 00:27:24.619 --> 00:27:26.460 to us, the 00:27:26.460 --> 00:27:27.579 sacramental way. 00:27:28.779 --> 00:27:29.819 Jesus sitting at 00:27:29.819 --> 00:27:30.679 the table with 00:27:30.679 --> 00:27:31.299 his most beloved 00:27:31.299 --> 00:27:32.460 disciples, holding 00:27:32.460 --> 00:27:33.179 out a piece of 00:27:33.179 --> 00:27:34.359 bread and saying, 00:27:34.839 --> 00:27:37.539 this is my body. 00:27:38.399 --> 00:27:40.659 This is my body. 00:27:40.779 --> 00:27:41.759 1 Corinthians 11 00:27:41.759 --> 00:27:43.139 verse 23, for I 00:27:43.139 --> 00:27:44.059 received from the 00:27:44.059 --> 00:27:44.980 Lord what I also 00:27:44.980 --> 00:27:46.000 delivered to you, 00:27:46.079 --> 00:27:47.240 that the Lord Jesus 00:27:47.240 --> 00:27:47.960 on the night when 00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:48.679 he was betrayed 00:27:48.679 --> 00:27:50.019 took bread, and 00:27:50.019 --> 00:27:50.559 when he had given 00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:51.579 thanks, he broke 00:27:51.579 --> 00:27:52.720 it, and he said, 00:27:53.399 --> 00:27:54.859 this is my body. 00:27:56.519 --> 00:27:57.839 Jesus gave us this 00:27:57.839 --> 00:27:58.679 meal of bread and 00:27:58.679 --> 00:28:00.179 wine to be for us, 00:28:00.200 --> 00:28:02.279 as we say, his body 00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:04.099 and his blood. 00:28:04.339 --> 00:28:05.720 And after instituting 00:28:05.720 --> 00:28:06.759 this meal, he goes 00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:07.700 on to show us the 00:28:07.700 --> 00:28:10.440 full meaning of these 00:28:10.440 --> 00:28:12.519 words when he goes 00:28:12.519 --> 00:28:13.240 to the cross. 00:28:13.240 --> 00:28:13.319 cross. 00:28:13.819 --> 00:28:14.839 And on the cross, we 00:28:14.839 --> 00:28:16.180 see his flesh being 00:28:16.180 --> 00:28:16.559 torn. 00:28:16.740 --> 00:28:17.920 We see his blood 00:28:17.920 --> 00:28:20.079 being spilled in 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:22.000 order to make, as 00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:22.960 the Hebrew would 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:24.240 indicate, to cut a 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:26.019 new covenant between 00:28:26.019 --> 00:28:27.240 God and all the 00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:27.940 peoples of the earth 00:28:27.940 --> 00:28:28.700 that anyone and 00:28:28.700 --> 00:28:29.640 everyone who comes in 00:28:29.640 --> 00:28:30.279 faith and repentance 00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:31.940 to Jesus can be 00:28:31.940 --> 00:28:32.839 saved and restored. 00:28:33.740 --> 00:28:34.559 And what we need to 00:28:34.559 --> 00:28:35.460 understand in this 00:28:35.460 --> 00:28:36.579 context is that this 00:28:36.579 --> 00:28:37.460 is more than just a 00:28:37.460 --> 00:28:38.440 time to remember 00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:40.400 Jesus' sacrifice on 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:40.880 the cross. 00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:42.279 As Paul says in the 00:28:42.279 --> 00:28:43.119 previous chapter, 00:28:43.779 --> 00:28:44.480 chapter 10, verse 00:28:44.480 --> 00:28:45.379 16, he says, 00:28:45.720 --> 00:28:46.539 the cup of blessing 00:28:46.539 --> 00:28:48.099 that we bless, is it 00:28:48.099 --> 00:28:50.420 not a participation in 00:28:50.420 --> 00:28:51.279 the blood of Christ? 00:28:52.440 --> 00:28:53.399 The bread that we 00:28:53.399 --> 00:28:54.519 break, is it not a 00:28:54.519 --> 00:28:56.579 participation in the 00:28:56.579 --> 00:28:57.399 body of Christ? 00:28:57.779 --> 00:28:58.619 What does that mean? 00:28:58.619 --> 00:29:02.000 By eating and drinking 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:03.839 this meal, which by the 00:29:03.839 --> 00:29:05.079 way, we can only do if 00:29:05.079 --> 00:29:06.259 we have physical bodies. 00:29:07.059 --> 00:29:08.059 You can't eat and drink 00:29:08.059 --> 00:29:08.879 a meal if you don't have 00:29:08.879 --> 00:29:09.599 a physical body. 00:29:10.519 --> 00:29:11.839 By eating and drinking 00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:13.399 this meal, the Holy 00:29:13.399 --> 00:29:14.859 Spirit joins our 00:29:14.859 --> 00:29:16.319 physical bodies with 00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:18.279 Christ's physical body. 00:29:18.500 --> 00:29:19.899 In that moment when you 00:29:19.899 --> 00:29:20.799 are eating and receiving 00:29:20.799 --> 00:29:22.619 this meal, in faith, 00:29:22.899 --> 00:29:23.979 the Holy Spirit is 00:29:23.979 --> 00:29:25.079 joining your physical 00:29:25.079 --> 00:29:26.279 body to Christ's 00:29:26.279 --> 00:29:27.199 physical body. 00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:28.220 And in that moment, you 00:29:28.220 --> 00:29:31.160 are participating in 00:29:31.160 --> 00:29:32.160 his body and blood. 00:29:32.299 --> 00:29:33.160 You are one with 00:29:33.160 --> 00:29:33.299 him. 00:29:33.360 --> 00:29:34.420 The word koinonia, you 00:29:34.420 --> 00:29:36.240 have fellowship with 00:29:36.240 --> 00:29:36.539 him. 00:29:37.480 --> 00:29:38.319 In the most intimate 00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:40.900 sense, you are one 00:29:40.900 --> 00:29:43.620 physically with Christ 00:29:43.620 --> 00:29:44.900 through the power of the 00:29:44.900 --> 00:29:45.440 Holy Spirit. 00:29:46.700 --> 00:29:47.640 We don't believe that 00:29:47.640 --> 00:29:50.920 the bread changes into 00:29:50.920 --> 00:29:51.259 flesh. 00:29:51.340 --> 00:29:52.120 We don't believe that 00:29:52.120 --> 00:29:55.559 the wine changes into 00:29:55.559 --> 00:29:55.960 blood. 00:29:56.839 --> 00:29:58.159 That arose in the days 00:29:58.159 --> 00:29:59.139 of Thomas Aquinas and 00:29:59.139 --> 00:29:59.779 the rise of the 00:29:59.779 --> 00:30:00.700 scholastic movement, 00:30:00.700 --> 00:30:02.059 which departed 00:30:02.059 --> 00:30:03.659 platonic categories for 00:30:03.659 --> 00:30:04.819 making sense of the 00:30:04.819 --> 00:30:05.619 Eucharist, the great 00:30:05.619 --> 00:30:06.379 tradition which had 00:30:06.379 --> 00:30:07.579 lasted a thousand years. 00:30:08.059 --> 00:30:09.379 And they began to use 00:30:09.379 --> 00:30:11.559 Aristotle to try to 00:30:11.559 --> 00:30:12.700 define more and more 00:30:12.700 --> 00:30:13.759 and more precisely what 00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:14.700 is actually happening 00:30:14.700 --> 00:30:17.679 in this meal, in the 00:30:17.679 --> 00:30:18.619 bread and in the wine. 00:30:18.619 --> 00:30:22.179 We read this and we 00:30:22.179 --> 00:30:24.479 say the call is to 00:30:24.479 --> 00:30:25.339 receive this meal, 00:30:25.439 --> 00:30:26.439 understanding that as 00:30:26.439 --> 00:30:28.259 we receive it, in the 00:30:28.259 --> 00:30:29.119 power of the Spirit, we 00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:31.479 participate in the body 00:30:31.479 --> 00:30:32.519 and blood of Jesus, just 00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:33.139 as it says. 00:30:34.419 --> 00:30:35.699 And we can only do this 00:30:35.699 --> 00:30:36.659 if we have physical 00:30:36.659 --> 00:30:37.139 bodies. 00:30:37.739 --> 00:30:38.739 And in this meal, we 00:30:38.739 --> 00:30:39.879 begin to see a glimpse of 00:30:39.879 --> 00:30:41.519 God's future plan for us 00:30:41.519 --> 00:30:43.359 and for the world and for 00:30:43.359 --> 00:30:43.979 our bodies. 00:30:44.659 --> 00:30:46.139 That the great hope of the 00:30:46.139 --> 00:30:47.259 Christian gospel is not 00:30:47.259 --> 00:30:48.240 that we might one day 00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:50.279 shuffle off this mortal 00:30:50.279 --> 00:30:52.839 coil and fly up to sit 00:30:52.839 --> 00:30:54.019 on a cloud and play a 00:30:54.019 --> 00:30:55.079 harp in heaven. 00:30:55.519 --> 00:30:56.440 That the great hope of 00:30:56.440 --> 00:30:57.859 the Christian gospel is 00:30:57.859 --> 00:30:58.839 that the heavens and the 00:30:58.839 --> 00:31:00.019 earth will come together 00:31:00.019 --> 00:31:00.720 as one. 00:31:01.099 --> 00:31:02.480 That the spiritual and 00:31:02.480 --> 00:31:03.559 the physical will come 00:31:03.559 --> 00:31:05.039 together as one. 00:31:05.299 --> 00:31:06.420 Matter and spirit will 00:31:06.420 --> 00:31:08.000 become one as God 00:31:08.000 --> 00:31:09.460 always intended for it 00:31:09.460 --> 00:31:10.039 to be. 00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:12.619 What that means is that 00:31:12.619 --> 00:31:13.839 the bodies that we have 00:31:13.839 --> 00:31:15.819 now will be fully 00:31:15.819 --> 00:31:17.200 restored and renewed. 00:31:18.220 --> 00:31:19.200 And as Paul says in 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:20.299 1 Corinthians 15, the 00:31:20.299 --> 00:31:21.559 best guarantee of this 00:31:21.559 --> 00:31:23.140 is Jesus' body. 00:31:23.960 --> 00:31:24.799 The fact that he was 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:27.519 physically raised shows 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:29.140 us that we will be one 00:31:29.140 --> 00:31:31.019 day physically raised as 00:31:31.019 --> 00:31:31.400 well. 00:31:32.259 --> 00:31:33.519 We pray this every week 00:31:33.519 --> 00:31:34.319 in the Lord's prayer. 00:31:34.920 --> 00:31:35.980 This is the fulfillment of 00:31:35.980 --> 00:31:38.079 our request, our desire, 00:31:38.220 --> 00:31:39.299 that one day God's kingdom 00:31:39.299 --> 00:31:40.299 would come and his will 00:31:40.299 --> 00:31:42.859 would be done on earth as 00:31:42.859 --> 00:31:43.539 it is in heaven. 00:31:43.539 --> 00:31:46.200 So over the next few weeks 00:31:46.200 --> 00:31:47.379 we're going to be exploring 00:31:47.379 --> 00:31:48.420 many of the themes that 00:31:48.420 --> 00:31:49.460 we've teed up here this 00:31:49.460 --> 00:31:49.819 morning. 00:31:50.440 --> 00:31:51.279 We're going to be touching 00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:52.399 on them in more detail. 00:31:52.980 --> 00:31:54.519 For now, I hope that it is 00:31:54.519 --> 00:31:56.799 clear to you that when it 00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:58.920 comes to your body and the 00:31:58.920 --> 00:32:01.000 complicated relationship that 00:32:01.000 --> 00:32:02.240 you have with your body, 00:32:02.500 --> 00:32:04.879 there is no greater source of 00:32:04.879 --> 00:32:07.519 hope in the world than the 00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:08.200 Christian gospel. 00:32:08.200 --> 00:32:10.740 It wouldn't be a sermon if 00:32:10.740 --> 00:32:11.500 we didn't quote C.S. 00:32:11.559 --> 00:32:11.740 Lewis. 00:32:12.200 --> 00:32:13.120 Here's what he says on the 00:32:13.120 --> 00:32:13.400 topic. 00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:14.200 Just kidding. 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:17.000 Christianity is almost the 00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:17.860 only one of the great 00:32:17.860 --> 00:32:19.299 religions which thoroughly 00:32:19.299 --> 00:32:21.340 approves of the body, which 00:32:21.340 --> 00:32:22.640 believes that matter is 00:32:22.640 --> 00:32:24.740 good, that God himself once 00:32:24.740 --> 00:32:26.420 took on a human body, that 00:32:26.420 --> 00:32:27.880 some kind of body is going 00:32:27.880 --> 00:32:29.799 to be given to us even in 00:32:29.799 --> 00:32:30.920 heaven and is going to be an 00:32:30.920 --> 00:32:32.440 essential part of our 00:32:32.440 --> 00:32:34.940 happiness, our beauty, and 00:32:34.940 --> 00:32:35.480 our energy. 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:36.480 Let's pray. 00:32:36.480 --> 00:32:41.039 Lord, we thank you for this. 00:32:41.099 --> 00:32:42.740 And even now, as we prepare 00:32:42.740 --> 00:32:44.740 to come to this table, we 00:32:44.740 --> 00:32:46.120 simply ask that you would 00:32:46.120 --> 00:32:48.339 take whatever of this is 00:32:48.339 --> 00:32:51.480 from you, either to convict 00:32:51.480 --> 00:32:52.980 us or comfort us that you 00:32:52.980 --> 00:32:54.839 would do your work through 00:32:54.839 --> 00:32:55.960 your word and the power of 00:32:55.960 --> 00:32:56.420 your spirit. 00:32:57.180 --> 00:32:59.339 And that as we come to this 00:32:59.339 --> 00:33:01.640 table and as we receive 00:33:01.640 --> 00:33:03.759 your body, that we might 00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:06.079 experience a sense of 00:33:06.079 --> 00:33:08.399 encouragement and hope as we 00:33:08.399 --> 00:33:10.419 reflect on our own bodies 00:33:10.419 --> 00:33:11.939 and the great and wonderful 00:33:11.939 --> 00:33:13.299 plan that you have for them 00:33:13.299 --> 00:33:15.419 and for us, for your glory 00:33:15.419 --> 00:33:17.000 and your son's holy name. 00:33:17.240 --> 00:33:17.539 Amen. 00:33:17.539 --> 00:33:17.639 Amen.